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A Perfect Day For Bananafish
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The character of a good day of bananafish
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The human mind, only able to withstand so much pressure before losing control, is like a volcano. The harsh truths that accumulate throughout the course of one’s life can lead to devastation, the eruption of the mind’s volcano. American twentieth century author, J.D. Salinger, illustrates the devastating consequences caused by a buildup of emotions and a lack of communication in his short story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.” Salinger “has become, in biographer Ian Hamilton's phrase, ‘famous for not wanting to be famous’ ” (Stevick). In this short story, Salinger details the interactions of the main character, Seymour Glass, with Sybil Carpenter, a young girl. Through these interactions, Salinger provides the reader with a glimpse into Seymour’s unstable, troubled mind. Seymour’s demise shows the importance of true communication and the expression of such emotions. By releasing societal pressures and not allowing oneself to be plagued by materialistic ideals, one can truly achieve a stable state of mind. Through the use of symbolism, foreshadowing, and motif, J.D. Salinger's short story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” communicates the theme that effective communication is often a monumental struggle.
Salinger uses the sun as a symbol for the effects of materialism. If the sun represents the “burn” or impact of materialism on an individual, then Muriel, suffering from a painful sunburn, is engulfed by a materialistic world. Seymour, on the other hand, pale and guarded from the sun’s penetrating rays, exists sheltered and excluded from materialistic society, choosing to dwell on simpler, childlike pleasures. Muriel’s mother tells her daughter, “My goodness, he [Seymour] needs the sun. Can't you make him?" (Salinger 5). This insta...
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...7. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Moran, Daniel. "Critical Essay on 'A Perfect Day for Bananafish.'" Short Stories for Students. Ed. David A. Galens. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale, 2003.Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
"Overview: 'A Perfect Day for Bananafish.'" Short Stories for Students. Ed. David A. Galens. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
Salinger, J. D. "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." Nine Stories. 3-9. Excerpt from Nine Stories. PDF file. http://materlakes.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2013/2/25/50973306/Nine_Stories_by_J_D__Salinger.pdf
Stevick, Philip. "J(erome) D(avid) Salinger." American Short-Story Writers, 1910-1945: Second Series. Ed. Bobby Ellen Kimbel. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 102. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.
Salinger, J. D.. The Catcher in the Rye. [1st ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 19511945. Print.
Wallace, Daniel. Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions. North Carolina: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2012. N. pag. Print.
Roemer, Danielle M. "The Personal Narrative and Salinger's Catcher in the Rye". Western Folklore 51 (1992): 5-10.
Gwynn, Frederick L. The Fiction of J.D. Salinger. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1963. Print.
In many novels written by J.D. Salinger, there is a recurring theme of love that
We might remember Jerome David Salinger as a man no one really knew. However, we may very well know more about him than we realize. To understand Salinger, we must not search, or invade the privacy he once so treasured, but take what’s right in front of us, and add it up. Looking back at Salinger’s past, we find many answers; but, what is the question? Well, there’s a question I’m here to answer, and that is: What in JD’s life led to how he wrote, what he wrote, and why he was oh-so-reclusive?
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951. Print. 12 March 2014.
Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 1999.
Although Salinger has fallen out of critical favor because of his sentimentality, it is generally agreed that Catcher has yet to be surpassed in its portrayal of the pains and pleasures of a youth searching for love and direction. In all his work Salinger draws upon the experience of his own life. For instance, his parents shared the same backgrounds as do those of his
American essayist Agnes Repplier once said, “Humor brings insight and tolerance. Irony brings a deeper and less friendly understanding.” This is evident in Gary Soto’s young adult novel, A Summer Life. The book takes Gary Soto back to his childhood life in Fresno during the 1950s through a collection of his most memorable tales, pranks, and assorted adventures with his own special twist. As Gary Soto talks about the events in his childhood, he uses a variety of literary tools including irony and sensory details. In “A Summer Life,” Gary Soto uses many literary devices, including irony and sensory details to recall his childhood growing up in Fresno.
Born on January 1, 1919, Jerome David Salinger was to become one of America’s greatest contemporary authors. In 1938 Salinger briefly attended Ursinus College in Pennsylvania where he wrote a column, "Skipped Diploma," which featured movie reviews for his college newspaper. Salinger made his writing debut when he published his first short story, "The Young Folks," in Whit Burnett’s Story magazine (French, xiii). He was paid only twenty-five dollars. In 1939, at the age of 20, Salinger had not acquired any readers. He later enrolled in a creative writing class at Columbia University. Salinger was very much interested in becoming an actor and a playwright, which was quite odd because he would later in life become a recluse (Wenke, 3). Salinger adjusted his writing style to fit the literary marketplace. He was writing for money and began writing for magazines like Good Housekeeping and Mademoiselle. Many of Salinger’s characters have unique character traits. "Salinger presents a number of stories that consider characters who become involved in degrading, often phony social contexts," states a major critic (Wenke, 7). These characters are often young and have experienced a lot of emotional turmoil. They have been rejected by society and mainly categorized as "misfits." This alienation of the personality is often viewed as a sign of weakness by society when in fact the outcasts ultimately gain strength from their experiences as shown in Nine Stories, The Catcher in the Rye, and Franny and Zooey. Salinger is telling a tale of the human condition in its reality through his novels. Nine Stories is a collection of short stories of people who are uncertain of the next path to take in life. They are lonely, needy, and searching for love. One of these stories, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," is the story of a young couple who try to understand their life together and the true meaning of love. Seymour Glass has just been released from the Army Hospital and he is unable to adjust to life with his "crass wife Muriel amidst the lavish and vulgar atmosphere of their post-war second honeymoon" (Gwynn & Blotner, 19). It has often been called "the loveless tunnel of love." Salinger portrays Muriel in the first part of the story as superficial. ...
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 1951. Print
Charters, A. (2011). The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (8th ed.). Boston: Bedfor/St. Martin's.
Moran, Daniel. “Critical Essay on ‘A Perfect Day for Bananafish.’” Short Stories for Students. Ed. David A. Galens. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
Magill, Frank N., ed. Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Revised ed. Vol. 2. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1993. 7 vols.